Hello,
I bought a flashlight with tritium tubes. When I got it out of the box, it didn’t glow at all. I illuminate it with UV light, then it shined for a while. Is it a normal behavior of tritium tubes?
Thank you in advance.
What you’ve got is not tritium. Tritium’s glow is powered by its own radioactivity. If it requires a charge to glow, it’s GITD powder.
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Thank you for the comment. I’m dissapointed in the fact, but the flashlight itself (Vastlite Bow SFT-25R) is not bad, so I will use it without expectation on the GITD tube.
Tritium vials are relatively expensive ($10-20/each) so they make the light quite a bit more expensive.
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It was sold with 6 tritium tubes with extra cost of about US$4 in total. I understand it would be impossible to get true tritium vials for the price… Thank you for the information.
Real tritium tubes are relatively expensive and can continuously glow for about 25 years after production. Afaik, a single 1.5x6mm tube costs at least 4USD, and it is regulated or requires compliance procedures before it can be sold in some countries.
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Thank you for valuable information. I had no idea there is a regulation for such tiny item. I will avoid tritium tube in the next purchase.
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JFYI, Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It’s “a low-abundance byproduct in normal operations of nuclear reactors” and costs about $30.000 per gram.
I guess anything that needs a nuclear reactor to get made has a suitable price tag.
Tritium fobs are very cool items though (and not dangerous, even though the gas is lightly radioactive - there is VERY little Tritium in these vials).
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Tritium is also used for weapons site.
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This.
The extra $4 the original poster paid was for “glow sticks”. These glow sticks are just plastic resin with glow-in-the dark powder mixed in. Like other glow-in-the-dark items they’ll only glow for a short time after being exposed to light.
Original poster did not pay for “tritium tubes” which cost about $10 each ($60 for the entire light) and are not available preinstalled in this light.
Tritium tubes are sealed glass vials containing a small amount of radioactive tritium gas. The radiation emitted by this gas hits a phosphorescent coating on the inside of the glass, which then emits light.
Tritium vials are self-powered by this radiation and will glow for years, but not forever. However, this glow is quite dim and might not be visible except in a dark room.
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I thought ‘Glow Stick’ means ‘Tritium Tube’, because there was no option for tritium tube on AliExpress while the product description mentions tritium tube. I have to be careful anyway.
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In a way, it’s a clickbait, but it’s true that tritium products are legally regulated in many countries, AE accounts in some countries can’t even search the word “tritium”.
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Always trust a seller to upsell and charge for everything, particularly if there is a separate window showcasing an item with an “add to cart” button.
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I always check to make sure the photos and descriptions are consistent, but this time I overlooked something. I will avoid tritium and be more careful when purchasing products and services.
Thank you all for your advice and comments.
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And in some compasses.